Champions League travel woes won’t derail Arsenal
Arsenal’s Champions League preparations, according to William Saliba, have not been severely hampered by the team’s travel troubles to Lens.
The Gunners were scheduled to leave London at 4.15 p.m. on Monday, but they were nearly five hours late owing to poor weather in the Luton area, which delayed their flight to Lens.
Arsenal are due to play their first away game in Europe’s top club competition since 2017, but Saliba is certain his colleagues will overcome the interruption in getting to the French city, which is around 150 miles from London.
The Gunners were forced to cancel their pre-match news conference, and when asked if Saliba was confident they could still play at their regular level during a phone call with media, the Frenchman replied, “Yeah, of course.” We must arrive first, but tomorrow is a new day, and we will give it our all against Lens.
Arsenal’s traveling party includes Thomas Partey, who hasn’t played since Aug. 26 due to a groin injury, but Gabriel Martinelli was unable to travel owing to a hamstring injury.
